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Nyman Podiums at Birds of Prey

by

USSA

2014-12-05 15:34

Steven Nyman skis his way to third place in Friday's Audi Birds of Prey downhill at Beaver Creek. (Cody Downard)

BEAVER CREEK, CO (Dec. 5) - It was a huge day for the Americans in Beaver Creek, Colorado, with Steven Nyman pulling off a third place podium finish and Travis Ganong grabbing fifth place. Kjetil Jansrud of Norway, who won both the super G and downhill in Lake Louise last week, took another win and Beat Feuz of Switzerland finished second.

The notoriously well-prepped Audi Birds of Prey course looked fast on Friday, with light snow falling in the early morning, but clearing up in time for the first run.

Seven Americans ran the downhill in total. Ted Ligety (Park City, UT) finished in 28th, Andrew Weibrecht (Lake Placid, NY) in 30th, Marco Sullivan (Squaw Valley, CA) in 38th, Jared Goldberg (Holladay, UT) in 40th, Bryce Bennett (Squaw Valley, CA) in 52nd and Tommy Biesemeyer (Keene, NY) in 53rd. But the story of the day was Nyman, who was in first place for 15 racers and finished in third after an incredible run. “It’s huge to be on the podium today, especially with 2015 [World Championships] coming up,” relayed Nyman. “I woke up this morning and wasn’t that confident. I had to talk to myself and say ‘OK, this is your opportunity.’”

The American crowd exploded when Nyman podiumed, but they were just as loud when Travis Ganong came down in fourth place, eventually finishing in fifth overall. “Once you get that momentum, it’s hard to stop. I’m hoping I snowball it in,” said Ganong. “I’ve actually been top 10 at every race since Kitzbuhel last year, so I’ve had good consistency there. Hopefully, I can step on top of the podium a couple times this year.”

Watch the recap of today’s race at 10:30 p.m. EST on NBCSN and streaming on NBC Sports Live Extra.

QUOTESSteven NymanIt’s very encouraging to ski well here. A goal of mine is consistency. I’ve always been up and down. Alex Hoedlmoser has been great as a new head speed coach. He’s all about just going for it. And our whole crew got so fired up after my run. I kept saying, “Don’t get excited until I’m on the podium!”

This hill is about throwing your body down the hill and searching for speed the whole time. I kept thinking: Project myself down the hill. Project myself down the hill. Stay over my skis. I made one mistake in the Pumphouse area, but overall I was super clean and super tight in the air. I nailed the line over the Abyss, too. It’s so cool to fly off all those jumps.

The downhill course wasn’t as direct as I thought it was going to be, but the biggest thing is that the snow is so well prepared. The course is steep and gnarly, but the snow is so good. You have to heighten your level of risk and know the snow will hold you. It’s so fun to throw down as hard as you can.

You have to be a well-rounded skier here. There’s gliding, jumps, technical steeps. You have to do everything to get on the podium. Jansrud nailed it today. I was talking to him and he said, “I don’t think I’ve had a more perfect run.” That’s pretty cool to hear from him.

This race is super important to have before the World Champs. I’ve always dreamt of skiing the World Champs on home snow. Today is a good confidence booster.

Travis Ganong

I had a little tweek in my knee during GS training. It was a big bone bruise, so I took 2.5 weeks off of skiing and wore a knee brace before Lake Louise. I feel it a lot, but my skiing is still there. You just turn your brain off on race day and ski. It just takes time to fully heal—six months.

We are all really, really good friends on this team. We’re a big family. We love hanging out together. We ski hard and we train hard. We travel all over the world together and we feed off each other. It’s really good to see Nyman step it up and get a podium and I was really close as well. All season long, once you get that momentum, it’s hard to stop. I’m hoping I snowball it in. I’ve actually been top 10 at every race since Kitzbuhel last year, so I’ve had good consistency there. Hopefully, I can step on top of the podium a couple times this year. I’d like to try for the overall in downhill. I’m a little ways off, but it’s not out of the question.

Sasha Rearick, Men’s Head CoachIt was a great day for Team USA! I’m super stoked on the work the guys have done during the summer and during the prep period. Steven charged from top to bottom—amazing, amazing job. Travis skied well, and Andrew Weibrecht got a World Cup point! Andrew was super relaxed at the warm up and really mentally focused on what he’s doing. He executed today.